Just one thing.
That the blood of Jesus
can reverse the curse of sin
and raise the dead to life.
Tag: Jesus
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What’s so Good about Good Friday?
Courtesy of Passion via life.church -
You will have what your faith expects
From today’s devotional reading on the 10 miracles recorded in Mathew 9:
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Tattoo Day
After several temporary tattoos and some procrastinating, today was the day for the real thing.
After a brief recommendation and a quick look at his web site I book with Jay at Twenty Twenty Tattoo Studio in Niverville. Upon arrival the very easy going Jay welcomes me and I feel relaxed already. After all this is my first real tattoo and I’m a bit nervous but Jay and his studio vibe put me at ease, this is going to be OK. The studio is very clean and well decorated and there is some heavy metal music playing.
I sign a big disclaimer statement which releases them from anything and everything that may or may not go wrong. While I’m doing this he’s prepping the gear, getting the ink and miscellaneous stuff ready for the process. We talk about my design and it’s placement for a few minutes. Then he inputs my design into his iPad and prints it off on some special transfer paper. This gets positioned on my arm and some fluid is applied that transfers the design to my skin.
Last chance – this is the transferred design, real ink is next! We talk about all kinds of stuff, mainly tattoos of course, and he’s been at it since he was 18. Jay’s tattoos as you might imagine are very extensive and sophisticated. My simple line art is done in about 1/2 hour, and it barely hurt at all.
Here I am with the finished product!
The Anchor Holds Why a tattoo and why this tattoo? I’m blaming Instagram as the source of the tattoo idea in general. I started seeing ads for Inkbox, and I thought it would be fun to put a tattoo in a fairly visible spot to have some fun and possibly shock friends and family. So without any pre-announcement I showed up with this nautical rope work on the back of my hand.
The Persian & my tattoo One thing lead to another and I tried out a few different possibilities.
However, the winner was the one that was done today. I really relate strongly to the symbolism of the three components, the anchor, the heart and the cross.
The Cross representing Jesus Christ and what he did for all mankind by dying on the cross, being buried and the resurrection on the third day. God’s salvation, the Living Word, Jesus.
The Heart representing the love, mercy, hope and grace of Christ as well as my heart and my soul.
The Anchor representing the notion that I’m anchored to His amazing love.
Over the last few years there certainly have been some storms in our lives and when I put together these three symbols it reminds me that I’m firmly anchored to the love of God by Jesus Christ’s redeeming work on the cross in my life.
He is the anchor for my soul The anchor holds in spite of the storm.
“We have this certain hope like a strong, unbreakable anchor holding our souls to God himself. Our anchor of hope is fastened to the mercy seat in the heavenly realm beyond the sacred threshold”
Hebrews 6:19 TPTOn the way out the door Jay says to me “Welcome to the dark side” ?
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Hope
Our hope is in a Person, not in an event.
So though we might experience disappointment and setbacks, our hope is not defined by that, but by the word of God. Hope can be a quiet confidence, while we are waiting, while we take one step after another.
“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.”
Psalms 130:5 NIV
https://www.bible.com/bible/111/psa.130.5.niv
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The Truth is a Person
Pulled this from a Rick Warren devotional that really spoke to me today. I had this revelation about a week ago regarding Jesus as The Truth, so today this just drove it home more.
We know God’s Truth: Jesus Christ
Truth is not a principle. Truth is a person; truth is Jesus Christ.
One of the clearest and best-known statements by Jesus is: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6 NLT)
Notice Jesus says, “I am the truth .” He doesn’t say truth is a religion, or a ritual, or a set of rules and regulations. He says “I.” Truth is a person.
This is what separates Jesus Christ from every other leader of every other faith. Other leaders have said, “I’m looking for the truth” or “I’m teaching the truth” or “I point to the truth” or “I’m a prophet of truth.” Jesus comes and says, “I am the truth.”
A lot of people say, “I think Jesus was just a great teacher.” But he couldn’t be just that: No great teacher would claim to be God if he wasn’t. Either Jesus is conning 2.3 billion people who believe a lie, or he was nuts, or Jesus is who he said he was.
Everybody’s betting their life on something. I’m betting my life that Jesus is who he said he was.
Rick Warren’s Daily Devotional on Youversion – Day 288 -
Tattoo?
A while back in March 2019, I started to get some ads for Inkbox in my Instagram feed which caught my attention. I’ve never been interested in getting tattooed myself, but this #tattosfornow seemed like a way to experiment without the big commit. So I tried one out.
The tattoo was fun and it looks quite real and I didn’t tell people it wasn’t, at least not right away. 😉 It faded away in a little over a week. Experiment over.
Fast forward to March 2020 and I’m doing some bible devotions and come across this scripture.
This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary.
Hebrews 6:19 New Living TranslationFor many reasons, now is an extra important time to have my hope anchored firmly in Jesus Christ so this scripture really hits home for me. Perhaps for you too during this Covid-19 pandemic. And, as the mind does, one thing leads to another and I remember a song.
More that 20+ years ago some good friends introduced us to the singer Ray Boltz and his Concert of a Lifetime. In the concert he performs “The Anchor Holds”. The concert was back in the mid ’90s but still worth a watch.
As a relatively new Christian at the time all the songs in the concert were quite impactful, especially “The Anchor Hold”
Flash forward to the present day and now I’m thinking about getting some more Inkbox tattoos. On their web site I had previously “favourited” a couple that I thought would be potentially good to “try on”. Here are a few I’ve considered.
Turns out the with all my thoughts around my anchor, Jesus, I’m test driving this one.
I’m strongly thinking of making this one permanent when the world returns to whatever the new “normal” will be post-Covid-19 and tattoo parlours are once again open.
I think it will be a great reminder for me that my hope, faith and trust is anchored in the love, grace and mercy of Jesus Christ.
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Jesus in His Passion
“Don’t get caught up in the horror of Jesus’ murder, instead, embrace the extravagance of His love for you. ”
A thought from today’s reading (Day 1) that impacted me.
https://www.bible.com/reading-plans/13778-one-on-one-100-days-with-jesus-passion
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Encouragement when things are dark
Even in your doubt. Even in the brunt of life’s bitter blows. What’s ahead far surpasses your greatest expectations. Really.
Because when your expectation is tied to Jesus’ bigger mission, your future reality will be better than anything you’ve hoped or prayed for. Fix your eyes on Jesus and keep on. The joy is still ahead.
From day 8 of the @YouVersion plan ‘One On One: 100 Days With Jesus–Ministry Years’. Check it out here.
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YouVersion, The Bible App: End of the Year 2018
Well, 2018 is not quite over but they have produced some stats for the year.
I’m feeling pretty good about mine….
…. and what’s happening around the world is amazing!
YouVersion, The Bible App: End of the Year 2018
— Read on share.bible.com/2018/ -
Up Early
I’m awake in the early hours. Thoughts of all kinds are zooming around in my mind. After a while I get out of bed. It’s 5:00 am.
After the usual morning routine I settle in with a coffee to read the Bible. Today is a bit of a big day for me, it’s day 365.
Today is the day I’ve completed reading the entire Bible for the first time. Certainly being retired has helped with setting aside the time and I know I should have done this a long time ago, but here I am. I’d say the daily reading habit is now firmly entrenched.
On occasion I’d miss a day or two, but always managed to catch up in short order and get back on track. The YouVersion app has been a really big help. Some parts of the Bible were tough slogging (might have skimmed through parts of Numbers and Lamentations) and with other parts I found myself looking forward to the next day to find out what happens next! (Job, Daniel, Revelations).
So now what? What will I read now? Well, it’s Advent and focusing on the coming of Jesus into the world seems quite appropriate. I actually miss the Advent traditions from my days in the Anglican church, so this will be good.
I scan a few reading plans and pick up on two that seem good for me. I’m sure one or both of these will stick.
The first one is this.
I’m reading the @YouVersion plan ‘The King Is Coming’. Check it out here:
The other is this one.
I just finished day 1 of the @YouVersion plan ‘One On One: 100 Days With Jesus–ADVENT’. Check it out here:
Now I’ve read John 1 before, several times in fact, but it’s never impacted me like it did today. So beautiful, powerful, profound and more, beyond words
bible.com/bible/1849/mat.9.29.TPT
www.bible.com/reading-plans/135/day/288